Kentucky said, “This falls under the category of ‘All ya gotta do is . . .'”
How to Live Off the Grid: A Beginner’s Guide
Apparently all ya gotta do is buy a couple of gadgets.
Most off-the-grid homes are custom-built for maximum efficiency — that means no wasted space to heat or cool. ( Tiny homes are perfect for this.)
“Spend a lot of time researching and planning a cozy space that suits your lifestyle,” says Santagati. He recommends designing something that’s simple and ergonomic, with space that flows. Keep it clean and clutter-free. “Remember, you won’t have a huge house, so you will make compromises. But the rewards and freedom are worth it.”
In my experience, most off-the-grid homes are custom built by people who on a good day barely know what they’re doing – and they’re rarely if ever maximally efficient. But by all means, your space should flow.
I’ve been doing it wrong all these years…
Tried cooking supper yesterday off the grid with Mr. Sun. He evidently wants me to eat uncooked potatoes. Sigh.
My future off-the-grid log cabin will have a friggin’ nuclear reactor! When I win the lottery…
My parents lived off grid for several years up in your area. The only flow they worried about was getting the water to pump out of the barrels. Cooking was propane, water was hauled and electricity was 12v from an extra battery that charged while driving around the white mountains selling real estate. Electricity was for a 12V pump for the water and one light at night. Water was hauled. Heat was kerosene in the winter. I guess the house flowed, it was only one room, started out as Mr. Shed’s finest creation.
That article is so bad that I hardly know where to start. So let’s start with the very first paragraph! “Others dream of a simpler life — much simpler. If you’re in the latter group, you’ve probably wondered how to live off the grid,”
I think that Joel will confirm that there is nothing “simple” about living off grid.
I love the power advice, ” Since you no longer have traditional outlets, a generator provides a place to plug in electronics.” The “generator” they suggest actually isn’t a generator at all, but actually an overpriced box that contains a generator and a battery!
I believe the Lair does, in fact, sport “traditional outlets” and I don’t think that Joel even owns a generator.
I could go on but…
Yep
Damn my geriatric brain! Sentence from my post above should read “The “generator” they suggest actually isn’t a generator at all, but actually an overpriced box that contains an inverter and a battery!”
So glad others read the thing and commented. 🙂 I don’t have any interest in living “off the grid.” I’m just too damned old, with a serious tool and talent deficiency. sigh
But I’ve got all kinds of battery driven things, and the whole battery thing is driving me nuts. Why can’t someone develop a really efficient, long lasting battery that won’t be dead exactly when you actually NEED the darn thing? Why can’t there be some sort of indicator on the outside of a battery to tell you when it is good/bad. I tried half a dozen batteries the other day for a flashlight that didn’t work… and finally concluded that the batteries were fine (after testing them in something else), but the flashlight was dead. Probably a bulb… but I’m not going to attempt to stockpile those. Need to buy some better flashlights now, I think.
Living off grid would be an insane idea for anyone who can’t manage to keep their flashlights functional. 🙂 And I’d have to include most city dwellers in that category as well. But heck, best of luck to all of them. They’ll head back to the city fast and leave some property at bargain prices, I suspect.
Yeah, I knew that article would be “entertaining” to those here.
I really like this . . .
“Set up your shower outside your home to save precious indoor space.”
As far as I’m concerned, that rules out anywhere north of Miami.
Can you tell the article was written by someone in the Real Estate bidness? Oh, yeah!
🙂
I shook my head as I read the article. As someone who lived in the boonies WITH an on-the-grid total electric home, the author A) has never lived in the boonies, B) is healthy C) is fairly young and D) has more money than common sense.
I now live in town. A) The doctor’s office is 3 miles, instead of 75 miles. B) The grocery store of My Choice is 3 miles the opposite direction instead of 30 miles. C) I have a choice of big box stores in a 3-mile radius. D) The rent is higher but all the infrastructure and maintenance is part of the rent. It is actually cheaper, over all, to be in town. Oh, and lastly, it doesn’t take 2 hours for the fire, LEO or ambulance to show up in case of an emergency.
You can be a hermit and live in town; it’s all about attitude.
“Can you tell the article was written by someone in the Real Estate bidness? Oh, yeah!”
Seems someone in the Real Estate biz should probably have mentioned that it’s nearly impossible to get a mortgage loan on an off grid property. All the “beginners” who’re thinking of going out and buying an off-grid home, tiny or otherwise, will have a rude awakening. Not sure if a construction loan would be the same.
Off grid and roughing it in the boonies aren’t necessarily the same. But, like Judy, our age and health means that we’re no longer quite up to the rural remote part, even if it isn’t roughing it in the boonies. Being in town is taking some adjustment, but it’s really worked out to our best advantage overall. We have a buyer on the off grid house as soon as his house sells, so the hermit dream will live on. Wouldn’t trade the 20 year adventure we had for anything.
I have wondered how you guys are getting on, now that you’ve moved into town. Glad to hear you have a buyer.
coloradohermit – Oh, yes, the mortgage part! I had forgotten that part. If you don’t build a box, of the approved size with approved materials, you have to build the house cash-only. We never actually finished it because of the lack of…well…cash.
Construction loans in Kansas are only good for a year. So you better have all of your ducks-in-a-row before going that route.
It was great until we weakened.
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